Sri Lanka Cricket gives local TV rights to Carlton Sports

May 23, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Cricket has offered the local television rights to the new Carlton Sports Network for a three-year period, after the sports channel emerged the sole bidder, a news report said Wednesday. Carlton Sports Network (CSN) was formed last February and its chief executive, Nishantha Ranatunga is also the present secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Cricket board chief Upali Dharmadasa said the governing body’s sponsorship committee decided to give CSN the rights from 2012-2015, the Colombo-based Daily Mirror newspaper said.

Last month, SLC’s executive committee also approved CSN’s 125 million rupee bid for three-years, the paper said.

Ranatunga’s conflict of interest with the governing body and the sports channel, was raised by Sri Lanka Parliament’s Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) which probed the cash-strapped cricket board last year.

The dissatisfaction of the Committee was expressed on offering the tender to an organisation in which the Secretary of the Cricket Board was functioning as the CEO, said COPE in a report tabled in parliament last year.

Carlton Sports also benefits from a government directive last July, which mandated local televisio